At her weight check-up on Tuesday, December 11 she was 8 lbs 3 oz. My goal was always to get her to eight pounds before I went back to work five days in the office, so I'm happy to say that she made it. My first day back part time from home was November 7th, full time with some days from home was December 2nd, and full time in the office was Monday, December 17th. My transition back to work has been really good. I'm definitely not cut out to stay at home full time, and I realized that right around the time I started going back into the office. Our babysitter seems to be a great fit for our family. I do miss out on moments and time with my sweet baby, and I don't love that. But I do feel more balanced and more like myself now that I am back at work. I feel like I appreciate Lydia so much more. I even enjoy her fussy times!
Speaking of fussy, Lydia is rarely fussy, especially recently. Right around the time her nanny started (November 26th) she had a stormy patch for a few days, but since then she's been the happiest baby. On November 27th, I got the first "social" smile from her. She smiled back at me when I was making silly faces and noises. She is very serious about her play time, and really doesn't smile and giggle much yet. You really have to impress her to get a smile.
Lydia has outgrown all of her preemie-sized clothes and is on the verge of outgrowing the newborn size, too. A few of her Christmas jammies are three month size, and those are slightly big on her. Lydia is now wearing size 1 diapers. We are still getting Pampers Swaddlers diapers as gifts from folks, so I am alternating among those, the diapers I ordered from The Honest Company, and the Seventh Generation diapers I get at Kroger. So far I think the Seventh Generation diapers are my favorite. They handle poop and pee just as well as the Pampers, and it seems like they are better against her skin. I see less redness and rash on her bum with the Seventh Generation diapers. I still like Pampers Sensitive wipes best, and we use Burt's Bees diaper cream, A+D, and Desitin on her bum.
Things Lydia likes:
Her bouncer seat. The monkey and frog that move up and down entertain her for a good half hour. Then she usually falls asleep in it.
The pigtail doll that Leah gave us. I call her Polly with the Pigtails. When I move Polly's arms around, Lydia grabs her hands. It's the cutest thing.
The weekend after Thanksgiving we worked hard to get Lydia on a schedule to wake up only once at night. It worked! We started loading her up with milk every 2 hours between 6 pm and 10 pm. Very rarely does she want a bottle before 2 am, then she'll sleep until almost 6.
Our schedule for a typical day looks something like this:
6 am - Chip gets up and feeds Lydia. I get up, pump.
6:30 - 7:30 am - Lydia goes back to sleep. I get ready for work.
7:30 am - Our sitter arrives.
8:30 am - I leave for work
9 am, noon, 4:30 pm - I pump at work.
5:30 pm - We come home. Our sitter leaves.
6 - 6:45 pm - Chip feeds Lydia. I cook dinner.
7pm - We eat dinner. I pump.
7:30 pm - 8 pm - Bath, pajamas, story, or lullabies
8 pm - Lydia eats.
9 -10 pm - Lydia sleeps. Sometimes we put her in her crib, sometimes she naps in mommy or daddy's arms, sometimes she hangs out in her swing in the living room.
10 pm - I feed Lydia in her nursery with the lights off. A dreamfeed.
10:45 pm - I pump then go to bed.
3 am - Another bottle. We alternate this one.
Lydia eats 3.5 to 3.75 ounces of breast milk by bottle every three hours between 6am and 6pm. Then we feed her 3 to 3.25 ounces at 8pm and 10pm. When she wakes up to eat between 2 am and 4 am, and we give her 3.75 ounces or so. Lydia's nurse really wanted me try to get Lydia to eat 4 ounces. We tried for a few days and had a lot of spit up and wasted milk. So, we aren't going to go back to 4 until she is consistently finishing 3.75. Most of the time there is still leftover milk at 3.75 ounces.
Our little girl is such a wiggle worm, too. You really have to hold on tight when she's I your lap because she'll get a wild hair and just decide to squirm. I remember her being a wiggle worm from day one in the NICU. She does let us kiss her a lot, and I tell you what, I steal a lot of kisses! There is nothing like smooching those sweet chubby cheeks
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